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Believe it or not, South by Southwest is right around the corner. The typical Austin parent generally falls into one of the following categories:

• Leaves town to avoid SX/keeps as far away from downtown as possible
• Brings the kids to all the events (these are usually the types who were at ACL 8 months pregnant or make it look easy to bring small children to Blues on the Green)
• Books a babysitter or grandparents for quality adult time
• Really wants to go, but doesn’t really know where to start…too much to see and do!

If you fall into the last category, fear not! We here at LiveMom are wading through the emails, websites and Facebook feeds to bring you the best of the family-friendly events.

One of these is the ScreenBurn Arcade, which is a part of the Interactive Festival and provides a chance to see the latest innovations in the gaming industry. Here are the basic details:

Dates/Times:

Friday, March 9th from 3-7pm
Saturday, March 10th from 12-9pm
Sunday, March 11th from 12-7pm

Cost: FREE and open to non-badge holders

I was lucky to connect with Karen Ngo from the SXSW team, who gave me some great tips on how to enjoy the event with kids.

LOGISTICS
The fact that the ScreenBurn Arcade is at the Palmer Events Center instead of the Convention Center is huge, since it’s so much easier to get there and you can park in the Center garage ($7, and she doesn’t expect the lot to fill up during the day). As Karen pointed out to me, Sandy’s is just across the street (frozen custard break, anyone?) and Butler Park is a great place to take a break from what is sure to be a bit overstimulating inside.

There will be a concession stand inside Palmer if your crew is running on empty and there are a few other eating options within walking distance, if Sandy’s isn’t your thing.

Karen recommends going Friday afternoon if at all possible to avoid crowds and on Saturday, the earlier the better.

WHAT TO SEE
Although the Arcade mostly caters to adults, Karen noted that there has been an increase in booths showcasing children’s games. Festival organizers have put thought into the layout of the event so that these booths are clustered together. If you are really worried about your kids seeing mature content, Karen recommends checking in at the ScreenBurn booth just to the left of the Arcade entrance and asking one of the volunteers to point you in the right direction.

Here are some booths you should check out if you plan to take your family to the Arcade:

• Airy Labs – Kids ages 5-13 are invited to play test educational, mobile games, meet Airy Lab’s founder Andrew Hsu, become an Airy Lab “junior scientist” for an hour and to pick up some kiddie swag. You can RSVP on the Airy Lab Facebook page to attend or RSVP for your child to be a game tester.
• Draw a Stickman/HitCents.com – Kids draw a stickman, which comes to life and goes on adventures (caution: addicting for adults!)
• Gamestar Mechanic by E-line – Gamestar Mechanic enables kids to design their own games. The booth will feature live demos of student-made games, plus game-making stations ready for kids to build their own games. Hour-long presentations showcasing games kids have developed plus live game development will take place Friday at 5 and 6 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• Settlers of Catan – In this board game, players are new arrivals to an island called Catan and build colonies by creating cities, roads and villages and trading with other players for sheep, lumber, bricks and grains, among other items.
• Nukotoys – Nukotoys has announced the Spring 2012 release of its two launch titles, Animal Planet: Wildlands and Monsterology. Innovating a new category of toys that combine virtual and real world play, Animal Planet and Monsterology NUKO™ are collectible cards containing characters and items that magically appear in game Apps when tapped to the screen of an iPad™, iPod touch™, or iPhone™.
• Spontuneous – The board game Spontuneous® challenges players to think of lyrics to songs they know and love. One person says a word and the race is on for the others to sing a portion of lyrics containing that word.
• Game Over Videogames – Game Over Videogames, Inc. is an independent chain of used RETRO video game stores dedicated to the love of classic video games, systems, and accessories from Atari to Xbox.
• graFighters – graFighters is a limitless playground for the creatures of your imagination. Draw your own characters and bring them to life, or invent new graFighters from user-generated parts. Play games with your characters and take them with you as you explore and build upon the handcrafted wilderness. Teach your graFighters new skills and watch their personalities develop over time, all while shaping the graFighters world and evolving its story with every decision you make.
• Minecraft tee Meet-N-Greet - Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, have collaborated with SXSWi to host a meet and greet with Mojang’s Director of Fun from Sweden. The event takes place Sunday, March 11th from 12-12:45pm. Swag will be available.
• Stormtroopers from the Star Garrison of the 501st Legion – will be at Palmer on Saturday and Sunday during the Bioware panel (see below).
• A Lego “pit” – Check out this video to get an idea of what the pit looks like.

The Arcade will also feature panels. For older kids, Karen recommends the 2 p.m. Sunday panel. Here’s the official description:

Bioware: Star Wars™: The Old Republic™
Dallas Dickinson (the Director of Production at Bioware) and the developers of the fastest growing subscription MMO will discuss the game’s launch and what’s coming next in a galaxy far, far away.

So hopefully, this list isn’t too overwhelming and at least gives you a starting point on how to experience part of SXSW with your family.

See you there?